Second Chance
by Kittens In The Closet
Summary: A one-shot based on Shinedown's Second Chance.


_Second Chance_

_My eyes are open wide,  
By the way, I made it through the day._

Rose Hockley woke quickly, trying not to disturb her husband. She changed quickly, creeping through the house, picking up a few special photographs before leaving. She remembered sitting by the fireplace, only hours before. She was meant to be cooking dinner.

_Rose set the table quietly, and put the turkey on the table. She breathed in heavily. The door opened, and Cal came in. He put down his black briefcase and sat down at the table. He took a bite of the dinner, and then flung the plate off the table. Rose backed away, as turned around to see her ten year-old daughter watching sadly on the ivory staircase._

"_Face me! You burnt it.. again! When will you ever learn Rose?" Cal told her angrily, leaving the room and slamming the study door. Rose bent down in tears, picking up the pieces of the plate, not caring about her bleeding hands. Her daughter Lorraine came in, and bent down beside her._

"_Mother, are you alright?" Lorraine asked.  
"Yes, dear, I'm fine. Go play with your brother." Rose told her. She ate alone that night._

_Later, the yelling began. Lorraine covered Nathan's ears and the yelling got louder. Rose came upstairs and tucked them in, with a bright red face. She then went to bed herself. She turned over, staring out the window. It dawned on her. She needed to run away._

_I watched the world outside,  
By the way, I'm leaving out today._

Rose stuffed a picture of Lorraine and Nathan in her bag, and then stared out into the dark night sky again. She remembered the loud breakfast that morning.

"_Cal, mother has to see the doctor today." Rose told him. "Can you take her?" she asked.  
"You take her." He snapped. "She's your mother."  
"But Cal! The doctor is three streets away!" Rose sighed. Lorraine covered her face.  
"I shouldn't have to take your mother to the doctor's, when she's YOUR MOTHER!" he shouted. He exploded eventually, yelling at her louder and louder. He threw his plate of the table, and got up to go to work. Nathan started to cry as the door slammed. Even though Cal wanted him to take over his business, he was quite a sensitive boy._

_I just saw Hailey's comet, she waved.  
Said 'why you always running in place?'  
Even the man in the moon disappeared.  
Somewhere in the stratosphere._

_Tell my mother, tell my father, I've done the best I can.  
To make them realise this is my life, I hope they understand._

Rose quietly opened the door of Lorraine's room and looked at her sadly. She was going to miss her, but she couldn't take her with her. She kissed her forehead and then quietly closed the door. Rose went into Nathan's room, watching him sleep peacefully, his soft bear tucked under his arm. Rose kissed him on the cheek and then left his room.

Rose went into the study and wrote a quick note. 'To Mother, Cal. Lorraine and Nathan.' She wrote on the front. She placed it on the dining room table. She made her last stop. She opened the door of her mother's room. Though she had gotten her into her marriage, she still would miser. She was partly afraid Cal would throw her out, but she couldn't take her with her. She'd end up running away from her. Rose shut the door quietly and then left the Hockley Mansion. A tear went down her face. She didn't want to leave her children, but she had to.

_I'm not angry, I'm just saying,  
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._

Rose buttoned up her coat and then began to walk to the train station, there was one around the corner, but the men there knew Cal really well. She went across many streets until she came to the station. She bought a ticket and gave it to the guard.

"As far as you go, please." Rose told the captain.

She found her place and tried not to think of her runaway.

_Please don't cry one tear for me,  
I'm not afraid of what I have to say.  
This is my one and only voice,  
So listen close, it's only for today._

Lorraine sat on her bed, consoling at sobbing Nathan, trying not to keep sobbing herself. Her grandmother was in her room, unresponsive, sitting on her bed. Her father was worst though, he threw the china on the floor, breaking and smashing everything in sight. He left for work earlier though. Lorraine, started to sob too. Why did she have to left with her father and grandmother? Her grandmother wasn't as bad as her father, but she was bitter and cold, not like the king grandmother Alice Wentworth had.

"Will mother ever come back?" asked Nathan through sons.  
"Maybe one day, Nathan. One day." Lorraine told him, hugging him tighter.

_Tell my mother, tell my father I've done the best I can.  
To make them realise this is my life.  
I hope they understand._

Rose watched the world go by as she was taken further and further out of Philadelphia. She looked at the photo of Lorraine and Nathan and wondered if they had read the letter yet. They were early risers, so probably. Nathan would be sobbing, Lorraine consoling, Cal lashing out and mother in complete shock.

Rose then thought of what Jack said to her on the Titanic. _"They got you trapped Rose, and if you don't break free, you're going to die."_

_Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._


End file.
